1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating and holding a terminal, and more particularly, to a connector for preventing a terminal from falling out from a terminal accommodating chamber and requiring no double-engaging member.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a technique achieved by the present inventors.
As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate connector 101 includes a connector housing 102 including a plurality terminals 103 arranged therein. The terminals 103 are inserted through holes 105 formed in a printed wiring board 104. The terminals 103 and lands of the wiring pattern are soldered thereby mounting the terminals 103 to the printed wiring board 104.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the substrate connector 101, a mating connector 106 is inserted in a terminal accommodating chamber 107 of the connector housing 102. If the mating connector 106 is connected to the substrate connector 101, terminals (not shown) of the mating connector 106 comes into contact with the terminals 103 of the substrate connector 101.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminals 103 provided on the connector housing 102 may be pushed out toward a back surface 104b of the printed wiring board 104 on the opposite side from a connector mounting surface 104a due to contact load of the terminals when or after the mating connector 106 is connected in many cases.
On the other hand, in the case of a so-called electric wire connector as shown in FIG. 3, electric wires 111 and 112 are connected to terminals 110 (one of them is not illustrated) accommodated in connector housings 108 and 109, respectively. The terminals 110 are connected to each other by connecting a female connector 113 to a male connector 114.
However, in the case of the electric wire connector, there is an adverse possibility that the connector terminal 110 is pulled out from the connector housing 109 by unintentional external force after the connectors were connected. To prevent this, as shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to provide the connector housing 109 with a double engaging member 115 for prevent the terminal 110 from falling out. However, this increases the cost and the number of working steps.
As described above, in the case of the substrate connector 101 and electric wire connector 113, the terminal 103 or 110 may be pulled out, and the double engaging member 115 is required for preventing the terminal 110 from falling out and thus, the costs is increased and the number of working steps is increased.
Thereupon, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensive connector having a small number of working steps in which a terminal is prevented from falling out from a terminal chamber and no double engaging member is required.
To solve the above object, according to a first aspect, there is provided a connector comprising a connector terminal including an electric wire connecting portion to which an electric wire is connected, a terminal contact to which a mating terminal is brought into contact, and a connecting portion for connecting the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact with each other, in which one ends of the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are connected to the connecting portion, and the other end of the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are directed to the same direction; and a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating and holding the connector terminal, wherein the connector terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from a direction in which the mating connector is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber.
According to the present invention, since the connector terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from the direction in which the mating connector is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal does not fall out from the terminal accommodating chamber by the connection of the mating connector. Therefore, a double-engaging member for preventing the connector terminal from falling out from the terminal accommodating chamber is unnecessary.
Further, the electric wire connecting portion of the connector terminal and the terminal contact are not provided on the same line, but are disposed such that the base end is connected to the connecting portion and the other end is directed to the same direction. Therefore, the connector terminal can be made compact, and the connector itself can be reduced in size.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, the terminal accommodating chamber is formed with a terminal-insertion hole through which the connector terminal is inserted and held, and the terminal accommodating chamber is provided with a terminal falling-out preventing portion engaged with the connecting portion of the connector terminal inserted into the terminal-insertion hole.
With this aspect, since the terminal falling-out preventing portion formed in the terminal accommodating chamber is engaged with the connecting portion of the connector terminal inserted into the terminal-insertion hole, the connector terminal does not fall out from the terminal accommodating chamber.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, when the mating connector is inserted and connected into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal is pushed by the mating connector.
With this aspect, when the mating connector is inserted and connected into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal is pushed by the mating connector. Therefore, even if the connector terminal is in the incomplete fitted state, since the connector terminal is pushed deeply, the incomplete mounted state is avoided.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact of the connector terminal are integrally formed together with the connecting portion.
In the present invention, since the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are integrally formed together with the connecting portion, the effect of the invention of the first to third aspect can be achieved more reliably.